. and the popular tourist spot cape cod.reporterjenniferdavisislive tonight in chat ham, massachusetts. good evening, jennifer. >> reporter: good evening. well, you know it has been raining pretty consistently here for several hours. at times those bands were pretty strong. but you are right, this storm was nowhere near as big or as strong as many had expected just a few days ago. still, the governor says even if it didn't reach category one status, this was still a very serious storm. >> we have had them before and we will have them again. >> reporter: after whipping the north carolina coastline with heavy wind and rain earl may be weakening at a quicker pace than expected. warnings are in effect around cape cod as well as martha's vineyard and nantucket. >> you can go out to an existing area shelter that has been set up at the high school. and they have snacks and drinks until we know exactly what's going to happen with the storm. >> reporter: the national hurricane center says most of earl's strong winds are expected to stay off cape cod. that's good news for those in the area. >> it can'

jenniferdavisislive tonight in chat ham, massachusetts. goodevening,jennifer. >>reporter: good evening. well, you know it has been raining pretty consistently here for several hours. at times those bands were pretty strong. but you are right, this storm was nowhere near as big or as strong as many had expected just a few days ago. still, the governor says even if it didn't reach category one status, this was still a very serious storm. >> we have had them before and we will have them again. >> reporter: after whipping the north carolina coastline with heavy wind and rain earl may be weakening at a quicker pace than expected. warnings are in effect around cape cod as well as martha's vineyard and nantucket. >> you can go out to an existing area shelter that has been set up at the high school. and they have snacks and drinks until we know exactly what's going to happen with the storm. >> reporter: the national hurricane center says most of earl's strong winds are expected to stay off cape cod. that's good news for those in the area. >> it can't be a big deal when i see all of the